Bits & Pieces…interesting stuff to help you think, giggle or impress your friends:

Whatever happened to our ‘Do Not Call List’? In October, 2003 the Canadian Government launched a national ‘Do Not Call List’ program. Fifteen years later I still receive as many unsolicited calls offering to clean our carpets, fix our computers or reduce our mortgage as I ever did. I have no idea how much the government spent on this program…but it was a huge waste of money.

Just this morning a friend sent me a way of handling these annoying unsolicited marketing calls. When he’s pretty sure that an incoming call is from a telemarketer (pretty much any call around dinner time) he answers, “Hello, thanks for calling…you’re on the air!” The pesky callers hang up immediately.

Will you run out of money before you die? A recent study by the World Economic Forum shows that the average Canadian will outlive their retirement savings by about 10 years. The numbers are similar for most other developed countries. Most people underestimate the cost of retirement living. Don’t make this mistake.

Where do your new employees start? Many companies announce to new employees, “You’ll start at the bottom.” What a horrible phrase! ‘The bottom’ sounds a pit of degradation from which you may never escape.

The world’s 3 busiest airports are Atlanta, Beijing and Dubai.

The Hudson’s Bay Company (HBC) caught cheating again. HBC, Canada’s oldest retailer, has agreed to pay a $4.5 million penalty to the federal government for false and misleading business practices in which they offered fake deep discounts on mattresses and box springs.

This illegal practice is called ‘marking up to mark down’ and it’s been going on for years. Are you ‘playing it straight’ in your business or are you cutting corners and deceiving customers in any way? If so, stop it! Businesses and brands are built on trust.

We need more of this kind of innovation. H&M, the global affordable fashion chain, is producing garments from a silky fabric made from orange peel waste discarded by the orange juice industry

Donald Cooper, MBA, CSP, HoF:
Donald speaks and coaches in over 40 industries throughout the world. He delivers the ‘straight goods’ on how to sell more, manage smarter, grow your bottom line...and have a life! To chat about ‘possibilities’ for your next business or Industry Association Conference, call me at 416-252-3703 in Toronto, or click here to connect to our ‘Enquiry Page’.